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Post within 12 hours or less of the last person. Please do not keep people waiting.

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A new city. A new place.

Devon had spent the majority of her life since her elder sister Cala Jo had found her in Edge City. She had gone to school, become some sort of super genius, and had even been hired on as head of the Research and Development department of the Company and had been given her own spacious office laboratory. All in all it hadn't been a bad few years of her life growing up. She had made some friends, and had thankfully kept from making too many enemies.

So, why was she here now in a new place on her own? Because a friend of hers was in trouble. Or, that had been the general gist of things she had been given thanks to the voicemail that had been left to her on her phone. It had been garbled, sounding like nothing more than a bunch of noise, but after some computer magic Devon had been able to decipher a basic message out of everything "Devon, help. I'm in trouble. Someone found out what I was working on... meet me---". The message had cut out after that and Devon had used her friends phone to triangulate where her location had been at the time: it was here.

In this very city.

Devon had left without explaining to her elder sister why: she didn't want Cala getting in over her head again. Her sister had gone through quite enough issues the past few years and Devon had no intentions of adding more to her plate. Besides, she felt at sixteen years old, she was more than capable of handling maneuvering herself through a city without her sister looking over her shoulder for her the entire time. So, the whole story she gave? She was going on an extended vacation; a way to broaden her mind and explore new things. It wasn't far fetched, but she had no idea who all actually believed it. Cala at least had: her sister didn't have a way of telling if she was lying or not.

Devon had found a stash spot for her good until her laboratory was ready - she wanted a safe place she could work out of and figured an underground, or even underwater space would do the best and be the safest. For now though she was simply wandering slowly down the sidewalk dressed in what was quickly becoming her trademark outfit: a pair of jeans, black combat boots, a purple pull-over hoodie, and a deep blue FBI jacket. Her long red hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and her black framed glasses were on her face.

A glance at the sky instead of at the Smart Device phone in her pocket showed her that it was getting dark: likely about eight o'clock at night. The sky was clear for now but there was definitely the smell of rain in the air, perhaps even an approaching thunderstorm. Most teenagers and kids were being ushered inside of cars and doorways by parents clearly wanting them to be inside before it got any darker. Devon herself just kept putting one booted foot in front of the other at a casual pace: she wasn't worried about the things that went bump in the night around her, and if anything she was armed with her steel extendable baton which was in the pocket opposite of her phone.

With emerald green eyes she looked around as the wind picked up and caused several loose strands of red hair to come blowing across her face and then back behind her.

So where was this guy now? He was last headed in the direction of someplace called West City. Was another city going to end up just like Neutral City did? Like Velo? Matt wouldn't be able to live with himself if that little freak leveled another metropolis in a mad temper tantrum, so he left Edge City and went looking for him.

Matt, or Vigilante as most of his friends called him, was a young genius and somewhat of a super hero from the super metropolis known as Edge City. Having built himself a highly advanced suit of cybernetic armor, he lived the life of a typical super hero, fighting a host of strange and powerful villains. Matt was even lucky to befriend himself a beautiful female vampire named Cala Jo, and be hired into the prestigious "Company," a band of extraordinary people who ran and looked after the city.

After a slew of adventures, some of which included taking on a crime boss composed of cybernetic bodyparts, a cult of object worshippers, as well as adventuring through a ruined super city plagued with flesh eating zombies, Matt met what had to be the challenge of his life in the form of an alien that called himself a "Saiyan." A kid that had to be about 15 or so, Matt and a friend and fello Company member named Ka'lara engaged the kid in 2 furious battles that went down to the wire. Both times the kid was said to gain serious amounts of strength, and now he'd heard that the kid could transform himself into a powered up form.

So Matt decided to go after him, at the same time see more of the world. West City seemed endless, almost as big as Edge. Matt had developed himself a disguise, when he wasn't wearing his cybernetic armor, consisting of a dark colored jacket with the collar up, and a baseball cap pulled down close to his face. In shady situations, Matt also had on a scarf to pull over his nose and mouth. He wore jeans and boots that were easy to run in.

For the moment, Matt was walking the streets of West City, using his Smart Device to take tabs on people. West City was for the most part computer controlled and monitored, allowing Matt to easily hack into the networks. Everyone had a file, and Matt could easily read them. He considered settling in here somewhere to make himself a private HQ; somewhere he could hide away that no one knew about but him.

Smart Device:

Name: Smart deviceType: ItemDescription: A black Android cellphone. Comes with an ear piece and dual cameras.Abilities: The Smart Device is of Matt's own making. It will only recognize him as it's user; anyone else will not be able to access or work it. It allows him to contact any of his friends who has the same phone instantly, alongside allowing them to make normal calls. The phone operates on a private channel that cannot be hacked or tapped. The Smart Device also allows Matt to hack into most any technology and machinery for a world of different functions; for example, turning off lights, remotely hacking computers, cameras, and other smart devices, overloading a device to cause an explosion, among many other uses left to Matt's imagination.Intelligence Stat Required: 30Strength Requirement: /

As night fell properly on the city and the last twinges of pinks and yellows and blues faded to black the streetlights glowed to life bright and proper as did storefront windows. The city around Devon took on a whole new look, and a new crowd of people surfaced. Those who moved through the night, those who used it to mask their various activities, emerged. Devon wasn't afraid; her small stature didn't mean she was in any sort of danger - though, they likely wouldn't know that.

Devon kept her head down and continued walking on at the same slow and steady pace. From one black to another, and then around a corner, she moved with the same soft booted footfalls. It wasn't until she was walking down a long stretch of sidewalk lined with buildings that had closed an hour before did she feel the hairs on the back of her neck stand on edge. Most people tended to ignore these early warning signs their bodies naturally gave them but for Devon it was a well noticed warning sign: something wasn't quite right around her.

Instead of looking behind her, or around, and giving herself away to whatever danger might be lurking nearby she continued moving on down the block as if nothing out of the ordinary was going. Behind her she could hear what sounded like the footsteps of several other individuals: people who had been lurking in a nearby alley, clearly up to no good, when they had saw her walking past. Using her own rather perceptive hearing she could easily surmise that while they were close they were still a good fifteen or so feet behind her, if not a few more - no where close enough to actually attempt to grab her, rob her, or whatever they had intended.

Devon kept the same steady pace as before even as she heard "Heeey girlie! Why don't you wait up a minute?" When Devon didn't respond, and just kept on walking she heard another voice speak up and say "Come on girlie. We'll all have a good time together.. " A chorus of laughter broke out and the group sped up. Still without bothering to look back Devon slid her hand into her pocket, not to grab her phone, but to grab the steel extendable baton. Fingers wrapped around her weapon, her grip steady and sure, as she just kept going: she wasn't going to beat their asses if they smartened up and got the hell on somewhere, but she was prepared in the off chance that it didn't happen.

"If i were you guys I'd just walk away now... , Devon called out in a clear voice, loud enough for them to not only hear, but to begin to laugh about.

The familiar information appeared on his Smart Device. Devon? Here? By herself?? Matt could hardly believe his eyes. The why's and the what are you doing here's would have to hold off until later though, as there was a group of unsavory types following along behind her. Matt wasn't going to just walk away knowing what the horny individuals following her had in mind for his girlfriend's little sister.

Devon warned them to walk away, but they responded with laughs. The laughs of a couple were replaced with painful grunts as a dark dressed individual descended upon the scene in a fast fashion. Matt directed kicks into the mid-sections of 2 trying to catch up with Devon. He landed and pulled the black scarf up over his nose and mouth, sliding his Smart Phone into the front pocket.

The 2 stooges took a spill and started rolling. others turned to look at the masked assailant wearing the baseball cap that made it difficult to see his whole face. "Who're you supposed to be, freak?" one of them asked.

Matt didn't respond; he was upon the stooge so quickly that when he moved, he looked like a black blur to untrained eyes, were they able to keep up. Several blinding punches were executed, all meeting their mark, ending with a kick that lauched the stooge up into the air. Another drew a switchblade and began to twirl it in an expert fashion. Matt turned to face him while slipping the "Peacemaker " from his left sleeve.

Matt expanded the weapon and quickly knocked the knife from his grasp., then began to hit him in random places in a quick manner, so quickly that he looked to be dancing. A final back swing knocked the goon backwards and onto the back of his neck, his legs violently thrown backwards as he went. The others began to look skeptical...

Devon had a plan in mind to make quick work of her expanding baton and essentially knock all of the idiots behind her silly for ignoring her warning. However, before she even turned around due to them ignoring her, someone else was upon the scene in a fashion that spoke of training. Devon turned, watching with her gaze narrowed slightly, as several of the individuals were dispatched of with an ease that seemed... familiar. The newest arrival had their face hidden, yet this didn't seem to hinder them at all. From Devon's quick analysis she could only conclude that whoever this guy was he had been doing this sort of thing for a while now. Where she still in Edge City she would have assumed it was V or someone else from the Company.. but surely not here?

"I told you idiots you should just walk away..." Devon commented, keeping her hand in her pocket and fingers wrapped around her baton just in case one of them made a go at her. The other hand was free just on the off chance that someone else came out of nowhere - one of the friends of one of the idiots.

"Suppose it's better he whoops your ass than me though; probably be kind of embarrassing to get beaten up by a girl." Even when one of the idiots tried to pull a knife - something he seemed fairly skilled at using - this face-hidden individual made quick work of dispatching him. The others were beginning to look skeptical and Devon waited to see if they would try and flee or stand there and take their chances against this new arrival. "So, I'll say it again.. you guys might want to run away." Devon didn't care if they got their asses beat too or not, but she figured maybe seeing their buddies getting their asses handed to them with such ease would be a lesson learned.

"Or apparently not...", Devon thought as she watched another one of the guys rush towards The Vigilante. One of the remaining ones turned and ran at the same time, heading across the street in an attempt to not cross either The vigilante or Devon's path. Unfortunately for him he wasn't watching where he was going and was slammed into by a car. Shaking it off with a limp as the driver got out gasping and freaking out as the guy disappeared down a nearby alley way.

"Oh boy... time to bail...." Apparently she wasn't the only one who thought that as the remaining goons turned and began to run off - the car accident was bringing people around who were nosy and clearly the idiots who had been following her had no intentions of being arrested or seen. Devon herself was beginning to feel it was time to find a place to duck into until everything calmed down.

The area was becoming crowded because of the fighting. Onlookers were upon the scene with their smart phones pointed, recording. Matt didn't really want to be in the spotlight just yet in this part of the world, but sometimes there was no choice. All of the stooges were trying to run off now, having grown brains, except for one of them. When he approached he went to swing at Matt, but was kicked hard on the left knee. The force of the kick sent him airborne where he was then quickly punched in the chest. His body flee through the air and impacted the side of the nearby building, creating a big crack in the concrete. The stooge crumbled to the pavement clutching his back and moaning.

Matt pressed a few buttons on his Smart Device. After a final button press, the lights in the surrounding area went out, drowning the area in darkness. This gave Matt the chance to grab a hold of Devon and quickly vacate the area, leaving all of the onlookers for the moment blinded and confused. Matt made his way through an alley and between several other buildings until reaching a street where the lights were on.

Matt adjusted his baseball cap and pulled his scarf down. "Never thought i'd run into you out here," he said, looking around and catching his breath. "Is your sister here too?..." He looked at his Smart Device, pressing a few buttons and swiping through several screens. "Why are you all the way over here on this side of the world?... I came looking for that little alien freak, he was headed in this direction. Can't sit back and let what happened in our neck of the woods happen again."

The last of the morons went down and then the individual with his face hidden did something on his phone and the lights around them went out. Devon was just beginning to think her hunch was right on who this guy was when she was grabbed and whisked away from the area. Given her suspicions, as well as the fact that even if she was wrong this guy had just helped her out, she didn't struggle or attempt to get away. Besides, she didn't want to be around when the police showed up - even if she could fake FBI credentials like it was no one's business.

In fact, once she was back on her feet, and was actually able to get a proper look at the guy's face to see that it was in fact her sister's boyfriend she grinned a bit. "I thought that was you..." At Matt's question about her sister being here too she shook her head no while also listening as he explained why it was he himself was here. The alien. The one who had caused all of that destruction and devastation back home: Matt wanted to stop him. She couldn't blame him, not with their history. She had seen the video recordings of the fight, of the close encounters. Nah, if anyone had the right to deal with that alien it was Matt.

"Nah, Cala doesn't know I'm here. In fact, I don't even think she knows exactly where I went. I told her I was going on vacation. I didn't want her mixed up in anymore drama: she's been getting herself into more than enough trouble lately." Devon sighed softly, figuring out where to begin while pulling her own phone out of her pocket. "A couple days ago I got a call from my friend Sam. It was really distorted and weird: strange since she's like us when it comes to technology. It took me a while to get rid of all of the ambient noise and the distortions of the recording and when I did I ended up with this...", Devon paused, pressing play on her phone after pulling up the particular recording. "Devon, help. I'm in trouble. Someone found out what I was working on... meet me---"

"I tried calling Sam back a few times and didn't get any answer. When I went to her house... well, the place looked like it had been hit by a tornado. I couldn't find any trace of her at all, so I figured I'd try and locate her phone. The last signal it let off led me to this city. I can guess what kind of trouble Sam's in because of the type of stuff she builds: weapons mostly, but she also dabbles in viruses and diseases... I don't have to tell you what would happen if her research got into the wrong hands. So, I told everyone I was going on a vacation and came here. If I told the truth... well, Cala would have came with no matter what I said, and I didn't want that."

Word Count: 521 + 1,612 = 2,133

Smart Device:

Name: Smart deviceType: ItemDescription: A black Android cellphone. Comes with an ear piece and dual cameras.Abilities: It will only recognize Devon as it's user; anyone else will not be able to access or work it. It allows her to contact any of her friends who has the same phone instantly, alongside allowing them to make normal calls. The phone operates on a private channel that cannot be hacked or tapped. The Smart Device also allows Devon to hack into most any technology and machinery for a world of different functions; for example, turning off lights, remotely hacking computers, cameras, and other smart devices, overloading a device to cause an explosion, among many other uses left to Devon's imagination.Intelligence Stat Required: 30Strength Requirement: /

Devon said that she already had her suspicions as to who he was, probably from the show he put on back there. She said that Cala didn't know she was out here, and Matt sort of understood why. With everything that has already happened to her, she didn't really need to be mixed up in any more situations, especially ones that involved freakishly strong aliens.

Devon then went on to explain that a friend of hers, likely of genius intellect, went missing and sounded like she was in trouble. Any sort of bad guy organization could always make use of an intelligent weapons developer, Matt knew this himself. Devon got no answer from her when she tried to call, and after visiting her place she came to found it ransacked.

"I won't try and stop you from trying to find out what happened to your friend, but I don't suggest doing it like this," Matt said, still looking at his Smart Device, and also around them to the many tall, strange, futuristic looking buildings. "...I was thinking about setting up shop around here somewhere... A hideaway of sorts that no one else knows about. Never been away somewhere around the world before, and like I said, that alien kid is still around somewhere too. Maybe you should consider doing the same thing, yeah?"

Matt sat down on a nearby bench. "The first thing we should do is get our hands on some cash... I'm gonna transfer all of my funds over here. The money is called "Zeni" here; from what I gather, it's pretty much worth the same as the credits back home. Transferring them should be simple enough, you should do the same." With several more button presses, he went about the process of converting his credits back home into Zeni here.

Matt said he wouldn't try and stop her from searching for her friend, but said that he wouldn't suggest doing it like she was. Devon knew she wasn't going about things the best way, but it was the only way she knew to keep her elder sister from getting involved and maybe even ending up hurt again. As Devon thought about it, and continued to listen to Matt speak about transferring his credits over into Zeni, Devon dug the toe of her her right boot into the dirt beneath her feet.

Devon pulled her own phone out and got to work doing the same exact thing: the credits - or Zeni rather - would definitely come in handy. She nodded a bit as well as she thought about making her own place; her own lab. Some safe place she could relax and call home while she was in the city. "I thought about making a lab here somewhere; some place safe where I could lay my head at night. Right now I've got my stuff stashed away in some storage containers around the city... Probably find some place underground to transform into what I need."

Once her credits were finished being transferred into Zeni she closed out of the banking application and slid her phone back into her pocket. "So uh... how would you suggest I go about looking for Sam then? I mean... I know taking off like I did, and being secretive about it, wasn't a good idea. But, it was the best one I had at the time that would keep Cala away and out of danger." If Matt had any suggestions she was open to them: so long as none of them involved getting her sister mixed into the mess. She had no idea what Sam was working on, nor how dangerous it had been or would be in the wrong hands.

Matt hacked into the camera system of West City. He spent a while using his Smart Device to travel through a computerized maze, keeping his eyes peeled for anything interesting. Matt stopped moving through cameras when he came upon one of the high floors in a nearby skyscraper. A laboratory, it was unused and deserted currently, and looked to be the perfect place to set up shop. There were even worker androids there still functional. Matt hacked them and set them about the task of outfitting the entire floor.

Devon said that she too thought of finding herself a hideaway in this huge city somewhere, and at the moment her things were scattered around. While Matt wanted to be somewhere high up, Devon chose the subterrainean route. She asked about how she should look for her friend, and made it clear that she rather Cala not come out here and get involved.

"This city is mostly computer controlled," said Matt, scheduling a delivery to what was soon to be a new home away from home, the Willis Tower. The worker Androids would recieve the delivery for their work of outfitting the floor. "Did you try checking out the cameras? Sniff around over there, you might find a trail on the web even that might lead you to whoever's behind this. Wouldn't hurt to have a look in the police databases too. I'll help out how I can, but if that alien kid shows his face again, he takes priority."